Ship&#39;s draft-gage.



J. M. COLE.

SHIPS DRAFT GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.4.1915.

J. M. COLE.

SHIPS DRAFT GAGE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4

Patented Mar.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- /A/ET T0 GAGE I I l :4/ GLASS T05:

me/who@ GLASS TUBE UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEroE. i

i JOSEPH M. coLE, oF'NEw YORK, N. Y.

/ sHIPs DRAFT-GAGE. l

To dll whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOSEPH M. COLE, a

citizen of the United States, residing at New York, county of New York, and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ships Draft-Gages, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to ships draft gages. f

My object is to provide a gage for use on ships or other marine craft by which the draft in feet and inches, or other measurement, at the bow or stern, and hence, the mean draft, can be determined from within the ship whether at sea or in port,"and by which determination may be readily made as to whether the ship is on an even keel or the keel at an angle to the water line.

My invention contemplates the provision of "novel means for carrying out the foregoing objects and it consists,- generally stated, in the provision of a sight gage adapted to be raised or lowered at will, a yieldable, -lexible or a telescopic tube for directing the water to the sight gage in any of its different positions, a difference scale, anda stationary scale, all combined together in a novel manner.

The invention is susceptible of modification in various respects and may be used with two sight gages and one difference scale, or, with two difference scales, according to circumstances. The inventin may beL modified in other respects and I do not, therefore, limit myself to those particular forms of the invention which are hereinafter described and disclosed in the accompanyingA drawings, as theyare to be corner of the head frame; I Fig-4, a detail showing the use of a flexible hose in lieu of the telescopic tube;

Figs. 5Land 6, diagrammatic views showing how the inventionvis used; and j Fig. 7 a diagram showing how the markings of the difference scales may be found.

The inlet 1 for the gage is in communication with the water outside the shi or `other craft 2 (Fig. 5). A section of xed Specification of Letters Patent.

. the uppermost telescopic section 6 are laterally extending metal tubes 10 and 11 which constitute a head frame connected by a metal binding rod 12. A tubular upper eX- tension 13 is provided with an air vent 14 and has a bail 15 to which is connected a cable or flexible lifting device 16 running over a suitable pulley 17 and operated by a windlass or by hand in any desired manner for vthe purpose of raising or lowering the head frame 10, 11` and the telescopic tubes 4, 5, 6. Glass sight gages 18 and 19 are seated at their upper and lower ends inthe fittings 20 in the manner shown in Fig. 3, being suitably packed by packing and glands 21. The head fra-me with the glass sight .tubes move as a unit when thegage is raised and lowered by operating the head frame is a valve 1 for controlling the iow of water to the gages 18 and 19.'

Guide wires or rods 22 which are suitably secured to the ship 2 at their upper and lower ends by the eye-bolts or other devices 23 and 24, run through the guide loops or arms 25 which ar'e carried by the fittings 20, certain ones of which may be provided with clamping screws 26 for the .purpose of securing the the guide rods or wires 22 to hold the gage in any desired positionwhen it has been ad-Y justed by operating the cable 16. In substitution for the telescopic tube sections 4, 5, 6,I may provide a flexible pipe or hose 27, asshown( in Fig. 4 having an ordinary hose coupling to the pipe 3 and frame 10.

A metallic sight disk 28 lies within the space circumscribed by the parts `10, 11, 18

and 19 and in the general plane thereof, this disk being fastened to the rod 12 at 29 so that it also moves as a unit with the head frame and the glass sight tubes. The central portion of the disk 28 is provided with a sight opening 30, and centrally ofthe height of the complete head frame is anindex mark or graduation 31. Immediately back of the movable parts previously dej Patented Mar. 6,' 1917. appiication mea February 4,i`ie. serial No. 76,133.

head frame and-sight gages to scribed, isa vertically arranged scale 32 which is secured in a stationary position in the Ivessel or other craft 2 and is marked in actual feet and inches to indicate the different drafts possible between the maximum and minimum drafts,v the. ship may have. The indication 31 reads directly on the scale 32. The disk 28 has its edges which are adjacent the sight tubes 18 and 19 provided with a zero or normal graduation or marking 33 in line with thewmarking 31. Above and below the line ,33,are graduations 34 and 35 which constitute difference scales which read in feet and inchesto indicate, for the bow and stern, respectlvely, the variation from an even keel.

'llhe cross tube A1l. is provided with the 4 i vent tube 13 so thatif the gage at any time is in a position below the waterline and there will be no overliowingat the upperl the controlling valve (not shown) is open,

ends of tthe glass tubes, but it will be apparent that this cross-connection could be disv pensed with and the pull of the cable 16 made direct on the lower cross tube 10. rll`he 'vent 14\allows escape of air when the gage is filling with water.

The guides 22 should be arranged' so that l lthe generallextent of' the upright feed pipe of the gage and the sight gages 18 and y19 "should be exactly at right-anglesl to the keel 36, as shown by the dot and dash line v37 in Fig. 6so that the zero or normal graduation or marking 33 will always be parallel to the keel 36, Fig. 6.

1n operating the gage, `the cable 16 is raised or lowered until the top of the column #of water in one of the sight tubes 18, 19t

coincides with the zero line 33. The clamp screws 26 may then betightened and observation made of the position of the top of the column of water in the other glass tube or gage. 1f it is ppposite the zero line 33, it is then clear that the ship rests on an even keel since the zero line 33 is parallel with the .keel 36, 6. rl`he draft may then be read directly from the draft board or scale 32 according to the position of the indication 31 in relation thereto. However, if the top of the column of water is above or below the zero line 33, lthen the difference scale 34, 35, will indicate, in connectionI with the top ,ofthe column of water, the difference in draft `in feet and inches between the point where the gage 'is located and the end of the ship, bow 'or stern, to which the particular sight tube 18 or 19 refers. The indication on the i difference scale may be added A. or subtracted according to whether the scale is thefplus or the minus part on which the indication is read, such addition or subl traction in relation to the reading of the indexl` 31onthe draft board or scale 32 I' f giving `the draftgof the ship at, the bow or' stern, as the case may be.

telenet Therefore, Jif the glass sight tubes 18 and 19 are twenty-five inches apart and the sight gage 19 is located fifty feet from the stern, one-half inch on the stern difference scale-will represent one foot draft at the stern.

rllhe gage may, consequently, be located'at .y -any convenient point of the length of thtl f vessel, but if it is not located exactly intermediate the bow and stern, it is necessary to figure out two separate sightings of the graduations rat the right and left of the disk 28 for the difference scales 34, 35. 1f, however, the gage is located exactly halfway between the stern and the bow, it is only necessary to provide one .dilference7` scale. 0n the other hand, both difference scales may be used in connection with one of the glass tubes and in that event, only Aone sighting ofthe gage, for the purpose of obtaining both bow and stern readings, 4is

. necessary.

1 Wish it understood, therefore, that 'the invention is not limited to the use of two sets of difference scales.) Furthermore, the parts 11, 13 and 14 could be omitted and the sight tubes 18 and 19 merely4 projected up freely from the .fittings 20 on the lower cross tube y10. vItis not necessary to employ rthe precise form of slip joint shown` in Fig. 2, nor the construction shownin Fig.

3. Either the flexible hose 27 of Fig. 4, or the telescopic tubes of Fig. 1 maybe used.

Having thus described' my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is :e

1. A ships draft gage comprising a main draft scale, a pair of sight tubes adapted to be raised 'and lowered in relation to said Scale for reading of the draft in connection with the water columns in the sight tubes, av

difference scale movable with the sight tubes for reading in connection with the water column in the sight tubes, and a pipe or tube adapted to communicate with the water outside the ship for admitting water to the sight tubes, said sight tubes being yspaced apart, whereby the difference in level of the water columns therein, in connection with the location of the tubes on the ship, will indicate the difference in draft at different points of the ship.

2. A ships draft gage comprising a main draft scale a pair of sight tubes adapted to be raised and lowered as a unit in relation to said scale for reading of the draft in connection with the water columns in said sight tubes, and a pipe or tube adapted to communicate with the water outside the ship for admitting lwater to the pair of sight tubes, said sight tubes being spaced apart, whereby the difference in level of the water columns therein, in connection with the location of the tubes on the ship, will indicate the difference in draft at dierent points of the ship.

3. A ships draft gage comprising a main draft scale, a pair of sight tubes adapted to be raised and lowered as a unit in relation to said scale' for reading of the draft in connection with the water columns in said sight tubes, draft dierence scales movable with the respective sight tubes for reading in connection with the water columns in said sight tubes, and a pipe or tube adapted to communicate with the water outside the ship for admitting water to the sight tubes, said sight tubes being spaced apart, whereby the difference in level of the water columns therein, in connection with the location of the tubes on the ship, will indicate the difference in draft at dierent points of the ship.

4. A ships draft gage comprising a primary draft scale, a pair of sight tubes, upper and lower cross pipes or tubes connecting said sight tubes at theirupper and lower parts,

thus constituting a unit adapted to be raised and lowered in relation to the primary draft scale, draft difference scales respectively disposed adjacent the sight tubes and movable up and down with them for direct reading in connection with the water columns thereof, means carried by said unit adapted for direct reading on the primary scale aforesaid, and a pipe or tube adapted to communicate with the water outside the ship for admitting water to the pair of sight tubes, said sight tubes being spaced apart, whereby the dierence in level of the water columns therein, in connection with the location of the tubes on the ship, will indicate the difference in draft at different points of the ship.

5. A ships draft gage comprising a primary draft scale, a pair of sight tubes, upper and lower cross pipes or tubes connecting said sight tubes at their upper and lower parts, thus constituting a unit adapted to be raised and lowered in relation to the primary draft scale, an upright cross rod connecting the upper and lower cross tubes, an apertured disk carried bysaid unit, said cross rod and disk having zero markings for reading on the primary scale and the columns of water in the sight tubes, draft difference scales on the disk disposed adjacent the respective sight tubes for reading in connection with the water columns thereof, and a pipe or tube adapted to communicate with the water outside the ship, having a controlling valve, adapted for admitting water to the sight tubes, said sight tubes being spaced apart, whereby the dierence in level of the water columns therein, in connection with the location of the tubes on the ship, will indicate the dierence in draft at different points of the ship.

6. A ships draft gage comprising a main draft scale, a pair of sight tubes adapted to be raised and lowered as a unit in relation to said draft scale for reading of the draft in connection with the water columns in said sight tubes, a pipe or tube adapted to communicate with the water outside the ship for admitting water to the pair of sight tubes, and a controlling valve for said pipe or tube, said sight tubes being spaced apart, whereby the difference in level of the water columns therein, in connection with the location of the tubes on the ship, will indicate thediference in draft at different points of the ship.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto afix my signature.

JOSEPH M. COLE. 

